April 2010

Our dear friends at the Lismore Family Christian Church, Australia had a dream. To bring Michaella and myself from Israel to teach their people about the Jewish roots of their faith and to challenge their nation to support Israel. Besides the friendly Australian hospitality, warm fellowship and great "outback steaks," here's a brief report of what happened.

 

HONG KONG

 

1. On our way to Australia, we stopped in Hong Kong to lead a music and gospel outreach to the more than 300,000 Indonesian, Nepalese and Pakistanis who live in the poor neighborhoods of Kowloon.  The event was organized by different organizations around this packed city of nearly 7 million people. Local believers are following up on the many people who made decisions for Jesus at the meetings.

 

2. We also lead a number of Passover Seder's for different groups around Hong Kong. Some of these were in fancy restaurants, others in poor neighborhood halls. Everywhere people came into a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Jewish Messiah and the traditions connected with Passover. Many lives were transformed as people shared in the life giving bread and wine made possible through the redemption of the Lamb.

 

3. We taught a group of 150 nine-year-old children at the Hong Kong International School about Jewish traditions, the Passover and the Bible.

 

CHINA

 

4. From Hong Kong we traveled to Shenzhen, a large city in southeast mainland China where there is an extraordinary hunger for the word of God. House church believers are coming together in city wide gatherings which are not recognized by the government, but so far the authorities are not troubling them. Meetings are packed with people standing in  doorways and halls listening to God's word. Revival is hitting this nation which is still dominated by communism and atheism. These vibrant believers enthusiastically embraced the crucial link between the Lord's Supper and the Passover meal. They rejoice in their vital relationship with the God of Israel.

 

There are 1.6 billion people in China and 6.7 billion people in the whole world. Nearly one in every four people in the world is Chinese! What an awesome thing to see God's Spirit poured out on this people in our times. What is happening in China is proof that God is able to do great things in this day and age. May we all stand in prayer for this sovereign move of God's Spirit amongst the Chinese. This will impact the entire globe. Pray for us also as we prepare meetings to return next year.

 

AUSTRALIA

 

5. We were warmly welcomed to Australia with a Welcome Dinner and a trip to the Gold Coast.  There were women's meeting and men's meetings, family worship services, city-wide meetings, gatherings with church leaders and ministers' dinners, pizza and pancake parties, koalas and kangaroos. At the "Australian Outback Spectacular" we learned about the 800 Australian "Light Horse Brigade" who broke through to Beersheva during World War I in the battle that turned the tide putting an end to Ottoman rule. Many Australians identify with the courage of these young men and women who willingly gave their lives in battle. They are now standing boldly for the Lord's purposes in Israel and it was an honor to share God's word with these warm and courageous people.

 

6. Australians are concerned about the influx of Muslims coming into their country. In Sydney we spoke at Parliament House. They wanted to learn from Israel's long history of conflict. We shared about the work of reconciliation between Arab and Jew in Israel as well as the work of Yad B'yad, the German Jewish youth exchange program. All were touched as Michaella concluded the meeting with a moving rendition on her flute of Israel's national anthem "Hatikva."

 

6. Everywhere we went, we taught about the Hebrew roots of our faith and what the Lord is doing in Israel today. It is amazing to see the support and prayers of God's people right around Australia for Israel.

 

7. Back in Lismore, Michaella performed a Benefit Concert at City Hall before the Lord Mayor and about 250 people. Proceeds went to support the work of three local high school chaplains who teach the bible in these schools and work with the needy, underprivileged kids in these schools.

 

We fell in love with Australia and the wonderful people (who doesn't?). All we can say is, "Hava guday darlin, hope ta seeya agin soon, mate."

 

We return to Israel tomorrow. Our team is preparing for the "Open House" on May 7-8. We are expecting 3-4 thousand visitors to Beit Immanuel. We will send an update on this and other congregational news soon after.

We love to hear from you.
 
David and Michaella